By Stevie Connor. Photo Credit: Sterling LaRose
Snotty Nose Rez Kids have announced they have signed to Sony Music Entertainment Canada Inc. The good news comes as the Indigenous Canadian hip-hop duo also announce their Hot Planet Tour, a short run of autumn tour dates kicking off November 28 in Omaha, and wrapping December 8 in Toronto, in continued support of their acclaimed fifth full-length album, I’M GOOD, HBU?
Young D and Yung Trybez will be in Toronto for the 2023 Polaris Music Prize Gala, having once again been shortlisted for the prestigious award for the third album in a row. While in Toronto they will be finishing touches on some new music. The event follows three U.S. performances supporting PUP this week, in Kalamazoo, Detroit and Chicago [all dates below].
Discussing the signing, Young D and Yung Trybez stated, “This has been a long time coming. We really took it far on our own, and we’re so proud of what we’ve done! At this point we felt that we wanted to bring in a partner like Sony Music Canada to really level up with us. We’re really excited to see what the future holds for us and to bring new people onto the team.”
Snotty Nose Rez Kids kicked off the year on the road, hitting New Colossus Festival in New York City before heading to Austin for SXSW. This summer the duo, along with director Sterling Larose, won the 2023 Prism Prize for their “DAMN RIGHT” video, off I’M GOOD, HBU?.
The vision for I’M GOOD, HBU? was born out of a significant change in the mental well-being of Yung Trybez and Young D. After releasing the album Life After in 2021, this year saw a huge shift in productivity. They were able to tour throughout North America, completing the dates that had originally been planned for 2020.
The collection of tracks on the new album spawned from a few recording sessions in May 2022, in between legs of their tour. Energized from the momentum, they were riding off the high off a JUNO Award nomination and performing at the award ceremony in Toronto, winning ‘Album of the Year’ at the Indie Awards, being short-listed for the Polaris Music Prize, and receiving three wins at the Western Canadian Music Awards.
I’M GOOD, HBU? is about Trybez and D letting their fans know that, despite the darkness that they dove into to heal from the past two years of Life After, they’re good. They’ve weathered the storm. The “HBU?” part of the album title is SNRK checking in on their fans. Even though they’ve made it through darker times and come out with an incredible year, they want to know how the fans are doing and to check in on them as well.
The album touches on subjects like climate change issues and the state of activism, showing respect for the planet, navigating the music industry with no co-signs, no massive financial support, no label before today, and being proud of their achievements, building their own squad of Indigenous creatives and bringing the youth up with them. The skits bookending the album poke fun at many interviews the guys have participated in where the interviewer has done no research on the band and fumbles through talking with them about their band name and Indigenous issues.
TOUR DATES 09/12 – Kalamazoo, MI @ Bell’s Electric Café ^ 09/14 – Detroit, MI @ The Majestic Theatre ^ 09/15 – Chicago, IL @ Concord Music Hall ^ 09/23 – Juneau, AK @ A’akw Rock Festival 10/07 – Chandler, AZ @ Indigenous Tattoo & Music Festival 11/28 – Omaha, NE @ Slowdown 11/30 – Kansas City, MO @ Encore at Uptown Theatre 12/01 – St. Louis, MO @ Blueberry Hill 12/02 – Oklahoma City, OK @ 89th Street 12/04 – Indianapolis, IN @ The Hi-FI 12/05 – Columbus, OH @ Ace of Cups 12/07 – Buffalo, NY @ Town Ballroom – Oxford Pennant 12/08 – Toronto, ON @ Axis Club ^ in support of PUP
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